Healthy Halloween

Festive fun is more important than ever

Can the words healthy and Halloween really belong in the same sentence? According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, they should!  Now more than ever!  The research found that childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic, especially in children 5-11 years old.  Whether the weight gain was a result of food choices or children being more sedentary, the gain was about 5 pounds which equals the weight increase from the past 20 years!  This perfect storm of ready to eat and junk foods, meal fatigue and lack of activity during quarantine makes the focus on healthy holiday celebrations much more important this year. 

While candy is a focal point for most kids, Halloween truly has a lot more to offer children — spooky costumes, magical activities and the opportunity to incorporate festive meals throughout the day.  It’s not about taking any of that away, it’s about enhancing the Halloween experience while pumping up the nutrition.    

Here are a few of our favorite ways to get spooky throughout the whole day - without the added sugar! 

Breakfast

Mike Wazowski Fruit Stack served with yogurt.

Lunch

Spider Sandwich – Cut your favorite sandwich into a circle using a large cookie cutter. Lay pretzel sticks between layers (4 on each side) to resemble spider legs!  Use olives to create spider eyes on top! 

Or as an alternative try Chicken Stuffed Roz Heads.

Dinner

Pumpkin Stuffed Peppers – Turn your favorite stuffed pepper recipe into a jack o lantern of a meal by cutting out eyes and a mouth before stuffing and baking! 

Snacks

Witchy Dip – Turn Dole avocadoes into an inviting snack by serving homemade guacamole in a shallow oval bowl.  Top half the dish with blue corn chips to form a witch’s hat.  Then add shredded carrots for witch’s hair, a mini pickle for a nose, olives for eyes and red pepper for a mouth! 

Bat Energy Bites – Take your go-to energy bite recipe and add two candy eyes, plus broken blue corn tortillas for wings for a festive treat!

A few other Dole favorites include Ghost Bananas, Crazy Eyes, Green Slimesicles and salad Meanies!

Published October 1, 2021